The kanji character 酒 means "alcohol," "liquor," or "sake." It primarily refers to alcoholic beverages, often specifically sake in the context of Japanese culture. It represents the process of fermentation and the resulting product.

・On-yomi (音読み): シュ (shu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): さけ (sake), さか (saka)

⚫︎ 日本酒酒 Translation: Japanese sake ⚫︎ お酒を飲む Translation: To drink alcohol ⚫︎ 居酒屋 Translation: Izakaya (Japanese-style pub)

The kanji 酒 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It combines the radical 氵 (さんずい), which represents water or liquid, with the phonetic component 酉 (とり). 酉 originally depicted a wine vessel. Therefore, the character suggests a liquid (氵) made in a container (酉), and thus, it points to the meaning of alcohol. Over time, the form evolved to its present shape.